Introduction to Gyroscopic Instruments and the principles of rigidity in space and precession. These principles then inform how the Heading Indicator, Turn Coordinator and Attitude Indicator function. www.flyaeroguard.com
May you explain when you rotated the bike wheel, you said the gravity will push it to fall down. May you explain what is the relation between the gravity and a mechanical in this case the gyroscope? appreciated.
Hi James, thank you for your comment. You are correct where spinning a gyro doesn’t inherently identify that the earth is spinning, but the practical application of using the gyro may have errors because the earth is rotating. When the gyro spins and the rigidity in space principle takes effect, the gyro doesn’t have a spatial reference linked to the earth. The function of the gyro in both heading indicator and attitude indicator is to act as a specific reference to measure the deflection of the aircraft during flight around an axis. With the heading indicator specifically, the challenge is that the gyro has no spatial reference to magnetic north and therefore as magnetic north moves relative to the gyro the heading indicator could continue to accurately measure the deflection of the airplane around its vertical axis, but those readings wouldn’t reference magnetic north because the gyro is no longer representing that specific geographic direction. We hope this helps, and please reach out if you have any questions or further comments! Thank you!
